


The Dark Honeymoon

by schizoauthoress



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Abduction, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Forced Marriage, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Ministry of Darkness, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-13 09:56:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12981579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schizoauthoress/pseuds/schizoauthoress
Summary: The Black Wedding goes forward... as planned. The ritual is completed, and the Lord of Darkness has his bride.  It takes a little convincing to make it official.(For the purposes of this AU, the Higher/Greater Power is not who was revealed in canon.)





	The Dark Honeymoon

Stephanie McMahon sits in tearful silence on an overturned five gallon bucket -- the closest thing to an actual seat they've given her in this dark basement. Faarooq and Bradshaw stand in silence behind her, closer to the industrial machinery that Stephanie does not recognize. She doesn't know why this small enclosure is fenced in and has a padlock on the access point, but it serves the Ministry's purpose just fine. It's her jail cell while they wait... for something.

Mideon leans his back against the chainlink beside the gate, and he starts to laugh softly.

"You getting something?" Viscera asks.

"Movement!" Mideon says, "The prize approaches, the door opens..." The man draws in a sharp breath, and that laughter bubbles out of him again, wilder and more sinister. "Oh... oh! The chairman isn't much of a snake handler, boys!"

Viscera laughs aloud as well. Stephanie resolutely does not turn around as she hears the Acolytes shifting their weight, but she hears Bradshaw chuckle.

"What's that I hear?" Paul Bearer asks. He and the Undertaker have been standing some distance from Stephanie's improvised cell. If they were speaking to each other, Stephanie wasn't able to hear anything they said. Paul approaches, and the Undertaker appears to be nothing more than a deeper patch of darkness in his wake.

"Mideon says it wasn't Austin who went to the hotel," Viscera answers.

"Tell our brothers and sisters to return. They will not be needed to collect the documentation," the Undertaker says. "We will be taking a different route to what we want."

Bradshaw and Faarooq step forward, bracketing her on either side, and each of them grab one of her upper arms, then haul her to a standing position. Stephanie tries to twist free, to no avail -- Faarooq and Bradshaw are perfectly matched in strength, and both are much stronger than she is -- neither man gives her any leverage to move against his partner.

Viscera is still grinning as he unlocks the padlock and pulls the chain free from the gate. Mideon throws the gate open and walks in to the enclosure. Viscera moves to cut off the escape path, even though the Acolytes still have her in their implacable hold.

"Rejoice, for you are the Lord's chosen..." Mideon murmurs, as he leans closer to Stephanie. He is the smallest of the wrestlers aligned with the Undertaker, and yet... as his dark eyes lock onto hers, she feels a chill of terror run down her spine. "Rejoice, for destiny is waiting to settle on your brow..."

His words drag her gaze from his eyes to the black symbol painted on his forehead. She remembers having that symbol painted on her forehead, when the Ministry first abducted her a little more than a month ago. The mad smile on Mideon's face widens when he realizes where she is looking.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?" Stephanie screams. There is no response but Viscera's sinister chuckling. In a little, broken voice, Stephanie begs, "Please... please let me go..." but the Acolytes do not slacken their grip on her arms, not in the slightest. She keeps begging them to let her go in a quiet, tearful voice.

Viscera and Mideon step aside, and Faarooq and Bradshaw pull her out of the small enclosure she's been kept in all night.

"Why are you doing this, please, please..." She looks up the Undertaker and tries to plead with him directly, "My dad will give you anything, please... please let me go!" 

He reaches out, as if to touch her face, and she recoils as much as she can in the Acolytes' strong grip. The Undertaker's fingertips graze her face, cold as death, and a deep horror -- worse than the fear she felt looking into Mideon's eyes -- seizes her. Her voice goes panic high and breathy as she continues to beg.

The Undertaker withdraws his hand, and Viscera cackles aloud. The Acolytes begin to lead her away, and the Undertaker allows it. Stephanie howls, "No! No! Please! Help me! Please!"

Paul Bearer watches them go, the holy book of the Ministry clutched in his hands. He laughs as well and murmurs, "Bless her heart!" He shakes his head as he follows after the Acolytes, just slightly in front of the Undertaker. "What a shame, what a shame!"

Mideon and Viscera follow behind the Undertaker. Mideon rubs his hands in anticipation as Viscera growls, "It's all ours!"

****

The favored four of the Ministry of Darkness step out into the darkness of the arena. Chill fog billows around the entrance ramp, and glows eeriely blue in the weak light, the only thing still lit aside from the distant emergency lights in the arena ceiling. They carry a large version of the Lord of Darkness's sacred symbol between them.

Stephanie McMahon is bound to the symbol, and she still screams for help. Lightning flashes inside the building as the grim group makes their way to the ring.

"Please, please let me go!" Stephanie cries. The words are starting to lose their meaning; she's said them so many times without a flicker of reaction from the Ministry. As Mideon and Viscera lift their end of the symbol and place it on the ring apron, Stephanie wails, "What are you going to do?"

They slide her under the bottom rope, and she stares up into the blackness above her. Then spotlights come to life and illuminate her restrained body.

"He'll give you want you want!" Stephanie screams, "Please!"

The four wrestlers all climb into the ring and surround her again. They lift the symbol she's bound to, lifting it and turning it so that the top crossbar -- and her spread arms -- are supported by the top rope on the left-hand side of the ring. If she turned her head to the right, she'd be able to see the entrance ramp. But she's too busy continually pleading with the merciless Ministry to do so just yet.

Once they are sure that the ropes will take the weight and she's propped up correctly, the Ministry withdraw. She's looking right at Bradshaw when this happens, and gets a good look at the Undertaker and Paul Bearer approaching.

"No, no, no!" Stephanie wails in anguish. Whatever they want from her, or her father, she doesn't want this.

"Before the ceremony begins, I must address the McMahon family," the Undertaker says into the microphone held for him by Paul Bearer. The camera crew is still doing their jobs. The Undertaker looks directly into the camera that one brave crewmember is managing to hold steady on him. He speaks with slow intensity in that booming voice of his: "I am not to blame for what is about to happen here! Vince, this rests upon your shoulders! Because you did not live up to your end of the agreement! And Steve Austin... well, I guess... he just showed his true colors as well!"

The Undertaker turns and looks into the eyes of his manager. Paul Bearer gazes back steadily, adoringly, at the Lord of Darkness.

"Paul..." the Undertaker intones, "Let the ceremony begin."

"Nooooo!" Stephanie screams, as the Undertaker approaches.

The crowd is chanting, "Austin! Austin! Austin!" in the hope that their hero will appear to stop the madness. Stephanie wishes that she could still have that hope, even a fraction of it. She struggles against her bonds, shaking her head in violent refusal, as the Undertaker comes to stand at her left.

"He'll give you what you want!" she says to the Undertaker in desperation, "He'll give you what you want!"

She knows her father loves her enough to cede control of the World Wrestling Federation to the Undertaker, if it will save her from this fate. She knows it. Why don't they believe her? Why was it so damn important for Steve Austin to be the one to deliver the documents?

Paul Bearer stands at Stephanie's right, paging through the thick, leatherbound book he's been holding onto all night. "Dearly unbeloved!" Paul says into the microphone he holds, and she realizes in that moment exactly what sort of ceremony this is.

"Noooo!" Stephanie screams again, and again, until her voice breaks. 

But Paul Bearer acts as though he cannot hear her. He continues, over her screams, "We are gathered here this evening to join Stephanie Marie McMahon in the unholy wedlock with the Lord of Darkness."

The Undertaker reaches out a hand to stoke her face during this speech, and Stephanie flinches away.

"Tonight!" Paul crows, "Stephanie Marie McMahon will step from the light on this evil, cesspool mortal world into the sanctuary of eternal darkness. Keeping this in mind, will you, Stephanie Marie McMahon, accept the purity of evil --"

"No!" she gets breath back in her lungs and howls, "No! No!"

"...and take the Lord of Darkness as your master and your spouse?" Paul finishes. Those evil eyes stare at her, sparkling with unholy joy, and Paul is utterly unmoved by her repeated denials. He has been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. On her other side, the Undertaker laughs.

There's a flicker of motion that she can see above Paul's shoulder. Someone is running down the entrance ramp. She gets only a flash of his face as he dives under the bottom rope and into the ring, but that's all it takes for her to recognize him.

Ken Shamrock! Ken Shamrock with a baseball bat!

Bradshaw tackles him before he can get his footing, and Faarooq moves to pin down his arms. Viscera moves toward them, blocking Stephanie's view of her would-be rescuer. And then -- 

SLAM!

The ring shakes as Viscera drops belly-first onto the trapped and prone Ken Shamrock. Ken screams. As Viscera rises back to his feet, Faarooq tosses aside the bat that Ken brought.

"Nobody messes around with Viscera!" the huge man shouts, "Nobody!"

Bradshaw and Faarooq stand, too, and kick at Ken's battered body until he rolls out of the ring under the bottom rope, on the side furthest away from Stephanie. And then the Acolytes and Viscera rearrange themselves in that half-circle around the symbol, silent once more.

Paul waits until they are in place again before addressing the Undertaker. "Lord of Darkness, is it your intent to accept Stephanie Marie McMahon -- her body, her mind, her soul, and even her breath unto yourself?"

The Undertaker reaches out, and his big hand caresses her face, sliding down to cradle his palm against her throat. Stephanie flinches away from his touch as much as she can, but there's really nowhere to go. He could tighten his hand right now, and choke off her breath.

Paul watches these proceedings with a grin, and continues, "And allow her to bear your offspring?"

Stephanie's eyes go wide with terror and she howls again, "Noooo! No!"

But Paul holds the microphone out, and the Undertaker leans forward to declare, "I do!"

Faarooq suddenly breaks ranks again, moving for the entrance ramp. Moments later, the Big Show is in the ring, diving under the bottom rope himself. Viscera slams his fists on the Big Show's back, trying to keep the big man down, but the blows seem to have no effect.

The Big Show rises to his feet and slams one of his huge fists into the side of Viscera's head. Viscera staggers, and the Big Show lashes out with his right leg in a kick. The kick hits Viscera in the thigh, and the followup lands square on Viscera's chin, and the Ministry's big man goes toppling backward over the top rope and out of the ring.

Bradshaw waits for his chance -- the moment that the Big Show moves to go after Mideon, he leaps at the taller man's back, throwing punches. The Big Show turns and punches Bradshaw in the head as well, then dumps him over the top rope.

Stephanie tries to scream a warning, but the crowd is too loud, and her voice blends in with their roar. The Undertaker spares a moment to glare at her, his hood falling back as he does so. Then he faces the Big Show again, just as the giant man looks over at him.

The Undertaker swings with all his strength, and Ken Shamrock's confiscated baseball bat smashes right into the side of the Big Show's face. The Big Show staggers over the rope and topples to the ground. With one look from the Undertaker, Mideon leaps down to the floor as well.

Stephanie can just see the top of Viscera's mohawked head, and she realizes that the Ministry has recovered from the Big Show's efforts to stop them. It doesn't matter how strong any of her rescuers are -- this ceremony seems to be revitalizing the Ministry at a supernatural rate even as they are attacked. 

The Undertaker pulls his hood back up over his head and turns to calmly take his place back on Stephanie's left side. Despair fills her, and she wails again.

"By the power vested in me, by the Lord of Darkness," Paul intones, "I now pronounce you as the unholy union of darkness. You may now kiss your bride!"

This time, when the Undertaker throws back his hood, his eyes are glowing white with power.

****

Mideon's mind fills with the conflicting morass of thoughts from people filling the arena the moment that his feet leave the protection of the ring -- the low, ever present hum of awareness that he is still not yet used to. He has no time to mourn the loss of the ritual's temporary shield, though, as one bright burning intention catches his mental eye. He ignores the prone Big Show, and the weakly moaning Ken Shamrock, stalking for the entrance ramp with purpose.

Mideon grabs Faarooq's arm as the Acolyte moves to join Bradshaw in stomping on the Big Show. "No," he says, "we've riled the rattlesnake."

And so, when Stone Cold Steve Austin comes barrelling out from behind the curtain, both Faarooq and Mideon are waiting on the entrance ramp. They move as one, Mideon obeying Faarooq's thought for him to attack low as though it were formed in his own brain.

Faarooq's fist crashes into the side of Austin's face at the same moment that Mideon's shoulder impacts Austin's midsection. Austin crumples to the ground, but he's fighting back a second later, and Mideon tries to bring both arms up to pin Austin down by the chest. Austin twists -- fittingly enough -- like a trapped rattlesnake, trying to catch Mideon with his legs.

Faarooq kicks him in the temple, and Austin's bald head bounces on the metal of the ramp.

'Just a moment longer! Just a moment longer!' Mideon thinks desperately. Destiny is a cresting wave. The power that has been building all through the ritual is about to be released by its completion.

Vince McMahon is in the arena now. Mideon can feel him, too. But he's too late. Far too late.

****

Paul lays a hand on her shoulder, magic-amplified will overwhelming hers, and Stephanie freezes up for a few seconds. She is not struggling or screaming, for just long enough that the Undertaker can cover her mouth with his own.

She can't move to resist, she can't turn away... and in her soul, there is a feeling like the tumblers of a lock falling into place.

The Undertaker... no. She knows who is really looking at her through those grey-green eyes. He is the Lord of Darkness. The Lord of Darkness straightens up from their kiss, looks into her eyes, and smiles. He holds out a hand to her.

Stephanie automatically moves to take it. A second later, she realizes that her bonds will stop her... but they don't. Her arms are free. Her legs are no longer tied together. She takes the Lord of Darkness's hand, smiles back, and gets to her feet.

Utter blackness fills the arena, as Stephanie takes her place at her new husband's side.

The last thing Stephanie hears of the mortal world is her father's anguished cry from the top of the entrance ramp. 

****

She isn't sure where they are. All she knows is where they aren't -- they are no longer in the arena where they were moments ago.

Paul Bearer laughs. "It's like I said -- you've stepped from the mortal world into the sanctuary of darkness."

"Do not fear," the Lord of Darkness says quietly, "for here, you are a queen, and none would dare harm you."

The surroundings are gloomy, dark, and misty. She hears the Ministry of Darkness moving in that mist, taking up positions of protection. Paul Bearer moves to stand behind Stephanie and the Lord of Darkness. She can see Bradshaw and Faarooq ahead of them, so Viscera and Mideon will be bringing up the rear of the procession. It is an echo of how she was brought up from her basement jail cell...

'...to be set free,' Stephanie thinks. The Lord of Darkness has hold of her right hand, and her steps are as sure as his, although she does not recognize this place.

"Isn't it a lovely mantle, my Lady?" Mideon croons behind her. "I knew you'd like it. I knew you'd wear it well. I saw you here, I saw you home, and so we brought you."

"Hush now," Paul says to Mideon, "The Lady of Darkness does not need to hear your talk of prophecy right now."

"I... don't mind..." Stephanie says. Everything feels strangely dreamlike, although this is far more detailed than her dreams usually are.

"My dear Stephanie," the Lord of Darkness says, sounding amused, "if you allow him to, Mideon will speak of nothing but what he sees with his inner eye. For the rest of our sakes, I ask you -- do not indulge him."

"As you wish," Stephanie replies.

Mideon murmurs, "It is good to see this, of all things, be true..." and then falls silent.

She isn't sure how long they've been walking when a dark building looms up out of the mist. It's long and low in shape, made of dark stone. Somehow, the sight of it seems to bring other features of the place into focus. The hard ground beneath her feet is a smooth dirt track, and there are trees dotting the space between where they stand and where the building waits. Another path veers off from the one they are standing on -- it vanishes into the trees and traces a way up a dark incline beyond.

The Lord of Darkness raises his free hand, and lightning flashes, illuminating things for a brief moment. The low building has large windows of dark-colored glass, which glow red and purple and emerald green in the instant of light. A set of broad double doors is slowly being pushed open. A veritable swarm of the robed cultists -- who the announcers usually call the Undertaker's druids, when they appear in the mortal realm -- comes out to meet the procession.

She doesn't understand the language they are chanting in. But she feels the welcome, the celebration, in how they are chanting it. The cultists hang back at a respectful distance as the Ministry of Darkness lead their Lord and Lady into the fortress.

****

As they walk toward the throne room -- and somehow, Stephanie is certain that is where they are headed -- the Acolytes step aside to allow the Lord and Lady to overtake them. Paul continues to follow, but he is the only one.

The Lord of Darkness waves a hand as they enter the large room, and torches all along the walls to the left and right flare into light. He lets go of Stephanie's hand, and she stops walking the moment that he does so. 

A blast of cold air whirls around the throne room and slams the door to the hallway shut. Stephanie shudders, feeling the Lord of Darkness's anger pressing against her own mind.

"Release her," he growls. 

"Release her?" Paul repeats, sounding confused. The Lord of Darkness whirls around to glare at Paul. Stephanie follows his gaze, and sees Paul cower under that glare. The shorter man whimpers out, "Y-yes, my Lord. Your will be done."

The dreamlike feeling evaporates from Stephanie as Paul Bearer waves his hand in some sort of negating gesture. She brings both hands up to her temples. Her thoughts no longer feel sluggish and slow. And now, she can realize...

"You kidnapped me!" Stephanie cries, glaring at the Undertaker. "You and your horrible, creepy cult!"

"My lawyers are set to argue that it was all part of the ceremony," the Lord of Darkness replies calmly. "They assure me that it is covered in our marriage contract -- that you were simply playing the role set forth for you in the ritual of the Black Wedding."

She wants to ask, 'You have lawyers?' but since he obviously does, she abandons that question to avoid looking foolish. Instead, she snorts and demands, "Do you really think I'll sign anything you hand me?"

"Wedding ceremonies are all ritual," Paul says, "and a real marriage involves a contract."

Stephanie doesn't look away from the Undertaker as she snaps, "I think my dad already offered you a contract -- for that controlling stake in the company you wanted?"

"He did not fulfill the terms."

"And you think I'll fulfill the terms of those vows you forced on me?" Stephanie asks in disbelief. "Didn't any of those screams get through to you? I'll say it again if I have to, as many times as I have to!" She glares at him defiantly. "No, I won't take you as my master! No, I won't take you as my spouse! And no! I will not bear your offspring! If you try to make me--"

"The Ministerium ex Acerbus is written in Vulgar Latin. When was the last time humans used that language -- the fifth century?" The Undertaker glances at Paul Bearer again, who nods.

"Just about." The stout, older man notes, "There were certain expectations back then."

"If I touched you without your consent, I think Mark would get angry enough to truly wake up and wrest control of this body back. The situation with Ryan Shamrock already made the balance between the two of us... precarious."

Stephanie frowns, confused. "...I thought you were Mark. That's your real name, isn't it?"

The Undertaker turns away, and walks toward the raised dais. It is mostly shrouded in shadow, but she can see a stone throne centered on it. The throne is shaped in a way to evoke the sacred symbol, with the back spreading into the crossbar with its downward-oriented points, and the arms made up of the top portion of the X-shaped part. A flat seat is formed by the X, a variation forced by the throne's intended function. 

The Undertaker pauses when he has one foot on the first step of the dais. He looks back at her, and says simply, "It's a long story."

Stephanie stalks forward and growls, "Well, I think I've got plenty of time to hear it! Since I'm your prisoner!"

"You are not a prisoner." The Undertaker finishes climbing the dais steps and sits in his throne. "If you truly accept your place as my queen, then there will be no trouble. I will let you leave the sanctuary of darkness when I am sure you will return to me."

"Do you have any idea how creepy that sounds?" Stephanie demands. "No, wait. Do you even care how creepy that sounds? After what your goons did to Ryan? After what your damn cult forced me to do?"

He glares at her. Again, she wants to call him the Lord of Darkness, but she beats down that impulse. The Undertaker is not going to get what he wants.

"Capturing Ryan Shamrock was... a mistake." The Undertaker admits. "Holding her, when it was already known that she was not chosen as my bride, was a mistake."

"You told Ken that she was 'enjoying everything that's happened to her'!" Stephanie shouts. "You let your goons rape her--"

"Ryan was a mistake," the Undertaker interrupts. "And Ryan herself made a mistake -- she offered herself to Bradshaw on the chance that he would help her get free. As you know, he is unshakably loyal to the Ministry of Darkness."

Stephanie feels sick to her stomach. "He took her up on it, though, didn't he? Took... what she was 'offering'?"

Neither the Undertaker nor Paul Bearer reply to the question, not at first. Even if Ryan Shamrock 'offered herself' to Bradshaw, it was only as a form of ransom, not true consent. Stephanie feels her hands shaking, and balls them into fists. 

'It was rape,' she thinks, 'no matter how anyone tries to spin it, no matter if it was only Bradshaw or if it was all of them.'

"It was... regrettable. I... considered it acceptable collateral damage, in the face of achieving my vengeance against Ken Shamrock, for taking you from my grasp the first time." The Undertaker looks at her solemnly. "If you judge it unacceptable, as my queen, you would have the authority to order Bradshaw's punishment."

She can't help the laugh that breaks out of her, hardly able to believe his audacity. "You're still trying to talk me into consummating this sham as a marriage? Well, let me tell you something -- if you try to make me sleep with you, even if your evil little troll Paul clouds up my mind again, I still won't want it! I'll never want it! And it'll be rape!"

The Lord of Darkness stares down at her, but for a long moment it feels as though he does not see her -- as though there is something that only he can see which has his attention. But then his grey-green eyes focus and find her gaze.

"This body has been dead more than once," he says dryly, "I think that would make it necrophilia."

Stephanie just stares at him.

"I tell you again, Stephanie. What we need to make this marriage legal is the contract. That is all I am asking of you. Simply your signature on the marriage contract." The Undertaker looks past her, at Paul, and gives a nod.

Stephanie turns to look over her shoulder, fearing what Paul Bearer can do. But, this time, all he's doing is opening the door to the throne room. He leans out and speaks to someone, then steps back and folds his hands together over his broad belly as he waits.

The wait is short. Two men in impeccable suits walk into the throne room. Paul Bearer shuts the door behind them, and approaches the throne as they do. The taller of the men has Sicilian features, along with light brown skin and jet black hair. His suit and tie are just as black, the shirt beneath a pearl grey. He is holding a black briefcase. 

The shorter man is paler, with more East Asian features, though he might be mixed race. His suit is dark grey, the tie and shirt in complementary shades of dark blue. He bows deeply to the Undertaker and says, "I see the ceremony was a success, my Lord. My congratulations."

The Undertaker gives a small nod of acknowledgement. "The contract."

"Of course, my Lord."

A small table materializes out of the gloom, where Stephanie is sure that no such thing existed a moment ago. She is the only one that startles at its appearance. The others in the room simply take it as a matter of course -- the tall lawyer barely looks at the table when he sets down the briefcase. The lawyer in the grey suit opens the case and begins pulling out papers.

The Undertaker says, "This contract contains no terms about providing me with heirs. And to make it clear, I do not hold you to the responsibility of 'bearing my offspring', despite what the ritual of the Black Wedding says."

"It's your standard marriage contract," the tall lawyer offers, smoothing his hands over the lapels of his black suit.

"What's 'standard'?" Stephanie asks, "One of those covenant marriages where there has to be adultery or a felony committed for divorce to be allowed?"

"Please!" the tall lawyer laughs, "This is the realm of the Lord of Darkness, the sanctuary of his most faithful followers. We're not in Louisiana."

'This is completely bizarre.' Stephanie shakes her head, feeling numb.

"The Black Wedding forged a bond between our souls. In time, you will know my soul as well as you know your own. But such things are not sufficient for the mortal realm. We must be married in the mortal sense as well, if either of us is to return to your father's company... in either sense of that word." The Undertaker says calmly, "Stephanie, please sign the contract."

She feels a flash of defiance in the face of that reasonable tone, and snipes back, "In blood?"

"No!" the lawyer in the grey suit cries. "Please don't. I don't want to have to store a biohazard in my files."

The slightest of smiles curves the Undertaker's mouth. "Truly, there is no need to be so stubborn, Stephanie. I told you, in this realm, none will dare harm you. That includes me."

Stephanie marches up to the dais itself. "Maybe that's so. But I've just thought of something -- you get what you want if I sign this contract. You'll be legally married to me, and you'll share my assets which include a stake in Dad's company. But what do I get out of this?"

The answer that comes is not what she was expecting: "Why, you'll get the same thing that I offer to all who beseech for my favor." He leans forward, and gently presses one hand to the side of her face. Unlike before, she does not find the coldness unpleasant. His touch fills her with a sense of safety, not terror. She stares into his face, unafraid, and his smile widens. He whispers, as though sharing a secret, "Do you know what that is?"

Stephanie can only shake her head.

The Lord of Darkness says, "I offer you power, Stephanie McMahon. Power to do whatever you wish."

The refusal hovers on the tip of her tongue. He pulls his hand away and simply waits. She thinks it over. She's spent much of her life embroiled in struggles for power, but she's never had power of her own... not the kind that lasts. What influence she had over her father didn't save her from the Ministry of Darkness, and she was physically too weak to resist them either.

'I could have power over them now. I do, as the Lady of Darkness, even with just their belief. But... I could have that in the mortal realm, too. With anyone.'

No one speaks. No one tries to argue the point. They all wait for her decision. And Stephanie decides, she likes the way this feels. She turns to look at the lawers.

"Give me a pen."

The Lord of Darkness watches with satisfaction as his wife signs her name to the contract. All is as it should be. He extends his left hand out, turns the palm up, and raises it. The gloom lifts, revealing another throne shaped like his symbol.

The Lady of Darkness looks up from the contract, and lifts her chin regally. She steps aside to allow the lawyers to put things back in order, and ascends the dais again, taking its expansion as simple fact. She settles into her throne and watches as the tall lawyer brings the relevant pages of the marriage contract and a fountain pen to the Lord of Darkness, so that he can sign as well.

The Lord of Darkness looks to her, and she smiles at him.

"Now," she says serenely, "bring Bradshaw to me. He will be punished to my satisfaction."

The Lord of Darkness sounds pleased as he intones, "Your will be done."

*-*-*-*-*

**Author's Note:**

> I find it hard to reconcile the early Undertaker -- whose first act that showed real personality was stopping Jake "the Snake" Roberts from hitting Miss Elizabeth with a steel chair -- with the Ministry version of Undertaker (who kidnaps women and calls Ryan Shamrock a 'little slut').
> 
> Furthermore, while the line about Ryan in canon is "...and from what Viscera tells me, she's enjoying everything that's happened to her," I went with Viscera as a witness and Bradshaw as the perpetrator. (I don't like the JBL heel character.)


End file.
